Joaquin Perkins, 9, of West Covina was named to United States Chess Federation’s most current team earlier this month.

Perkins and nine other kids from around the country landed spots on the 8 and under division of the 2014 All-American Chess Team, because of their high competition scores from this past year. (Joaquin was 8 as of the eligibility date for the team.)

The Hugo Reid Elementary fourth-grader has been playing the game since preschool. He tied for fourth place at the World Youth Championships in 2012 and is now a six-time U.S. national scholastic champion. In short, he’s done quite well.

Perkins said his son’s triumphs aren’t impressive because of his young age, though he only just turned 9.

“All of his championships have been based on grade anyway,” he said, “So he isn’t successful at a young age, so much as he is successful relative to his grade-level peers.”

Joaquin is glad to have made the team, after scoring a perfect 21 wins against opponents in a recent chess event at Rio Vista Elementary School in San Bernardino.

“I was happy that I made the team,” Joaquin said. “It’s pretty cool to be one of the top players in the country for my age group.”

Perkins makes sure Joaquin has enough free time to relax or to spend on other hobbies, though he practices chess almost every day. Perkins sees a lot of value in the game itself versus the awards or titles his son has received.

“The important thing is he’s learning some things that apply to life in general,” Perkins said. “One thing that’s great about chess is that although you can enjoy your wins, the game almost always gives you a decent dose of difficulty, humility and sometimes disappointment.”

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Professional chess instructor Joe Hanley, who coached Joaquin a few years ago, said he noticed great skill in the 9-year-old right away.

“He was amazing already at 5 and 6 years old,” said Hanley, the owner of Hanley’s Chess Academy in Irvine. “Much of this being due to the work Kele did with him on their own.”

Hanley said Joaquin’s thorough knowledge of the game’s complexities was a big reason for his success.

“He had an impressive and very fast speed in recognizing the tactical patterns that are in chess,” said Hanley. “This is by far the most important skill to have as a player.”

Besides a knack for chess, Hanley believes players of the game gain an even greater skill through practice.

“Self dependence — there is no one else for us to rely on to play and win each game,” he said. “We learn to trust ourselves by making decisions we are not sure about and then seeing how they turn out. We learn to trust our own ability to make decisions.”

Joaquin’s victories didn’t come easy. Like any other chess player, he knows the feeling of defeat. But he believes it shouldn’t stop a person from sticking it out.